Abortion doctor gets third life sentence after prosecutors argued he killed babies by severing their spines

Kermit Gosnell gets third life sentence in death of baby at rogue abortion clinic

A U.S. abortion doctor was sentenced Wednesday to a third life term for killing an aborted baby that he described as so big it could “walk to the bus.” The case has made Dr. Kermit Gosnell a flashpoint in the nation’s bitter debate over legalized abortion.

Gosnell was convicted this week of first-degree murder in the deaths of three babies born alive then stabbed with scissors. He was given two life sentences Tuesday in a deal with prosecutors that spared him a potential death sentence. He is not eligible for parole.

The third sentence was handed down Wednesday for the baby known as Baby A, whose teen mother had been nearly 30 weeks pregnant, prosecution witnesses estimated after studying cellphone photos taken by astonished staffers.

“That baby will live with me forever. And when they found him guilty of Baby A, it just brought such joy to me,” said prosecutor Joanne Pescatore.

The 72-year-old Gosnell was also sentenced to 2 1/2 to five years in prison for the 2009 overdose death of a patient who was repeatedly sedated by his untrained medical assistants. Firefighters spent more an hour trying to get the comatose woman’s stretcher through the byzantine clinic and out a padlocked side door.

Prosecutors argued that Gosnell killed late-term babies born alive by severing their spines and taught several staff members the technique. Nine former clinic workers were convicted, and four others pleaded guilty to murder. Gosnell was acquitted in the deaths of four other infants.

Gosnell appeared serene in court and did not address the judge during Wednesday’s sentencing.

Prosecutors said he grew increasingly reckless as he accumulated millions of dollars from his rogue clinic, which was described as a “pill mill” for addicts by day and an “abortion mill” by night.

A 2011 grand jury investigation into Gosnell’s alleged prescription drug trafficking led to the findings about his abortion clinic. During an FBI raid, authorities found 47 aborted fetuses stored in clinic freezers, jars of tiny severed feet, bloodstained furniture and dirty medical instruments, along with cats roaming the premises.

Aside from Baby A, a second baby was said to be alive for about 20 minutes before a clinic worker snipped the neck. A third was born in a toilet and was moving before another clinic employee severed the spinal cord, according to testimony.

A fourth baby let out a whimper before Gosnell cut the neck, prosecutors alleged. Gosnell was acquitted in that baby’s death, the only one of the four in which no one testified to seeing the baby killed.

Defence lawyer Jack McMahon has argued that none of the fetuses was born alive and that any movements were posthumous twitching or spasms. He did not argue with the late-abortion charges and said Gosnell simply tried to accommodate desperate women and teens who begged for help.

“Did he maybe bend the rules on 24 weeks? Definitely, that’s true. … (But) he never intended to kill a live baby. That’s why he gave them Digoxen,” McMahon said, referring to the abortion drug designed to stop the fetal heartbeat in utero.

Clinic employees testified, though, that Gosnell often missed the target with the injection and taught them to “snip” babies after they were born, whether they were moving or not.

McMahon, said his client accepts the verdict and isn’t sorry he went to trial.

Jurors said they were disappointed not to hear from Gosnell during the trial but said it did not influence their decision.

“He just sat there for the past eight weeks, smirking,” said jury foreman David Misko, 27. “He gave me nothing.”